Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Sold by Columbus Macro LLC

Columbus Macro LLC cut its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 1.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,820 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 642 shares during the period. Columbus Macro LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $1,812,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CSCO. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its stake in Cisco Systems by 59.3% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 775,559 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $36,847,000 after purchasing an additional 288,775 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its position in shares of Cisco Systems by 24.4% in the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 264,647 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $12,573,000 after acquiring an additional 51,924 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. raised its stake in Cisco Systems by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 40,863 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,941,000 after acquiring an additional 1,820 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Cisco Systems by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 38,053 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,899,000 after acquiring an additional 889 shares during the period. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Cisco Systems by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,262,765 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $59,994,000 after purchasing an additional 97,087 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Price Performance

NASDAQ:CSCO traded up $0.36 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $56.76. 17,679,841 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,181,732. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market cap of $228.68 billion, a PE ratio of 19.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.83. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.50 and a twelve month high of $56.87. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $51.17 and its 200-day moving average is $48.60.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The network equipment provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.02. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 19.18% and a return on equity of 27.83%. The firm had revenue of $13.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cisco Systems Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 2nd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 27,143 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.45, for a total transaction of $1,342,221.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 683,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,794,278.35. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Cisco Systems news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 27,143 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.45, for a total value of $1,342,221.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 683,403 shares in the company, valued at $33,794,278.35. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 7,462 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.41, for a total value of $368,697.42. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 165,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,181,307.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 70,529 shares of company stock worth $3,509,049. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on CSCO shares. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Citigroup raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $62.00 in a report on Wednesday. HSBC raised shares of Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $46.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, August 16th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Cisco Systems to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.74.

About Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells Internet Protocol based networking and other products related to the communications and information technology industry in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, Japan, and China. The company also offers switching portfolio encompasses campus switching as well as data center switching; enterprise routing portfolio interconnects public and private wireline and mobile networks, delivering highly secure, and reliable connectivity to campus, data center and branch networks; wireless products include wireless access points and controllers; and compute portfolio including the cisco unified computing system, hyperflex, and software management capabilities, which combine computing, networking, and storage infrastructure management and virtualization.